SkillAgentSearch skills...

literature-research

Use when the user wants to find related work, survey a research area, identify literature gaps, or discover open-source implementations. Triggers on phrases like "find papers on", "related work", "literature review", "what papers exist", "open source implementation", or "papers with code".

Install / Use

npx skills add fcakyon/phd-skills --skill literature-research

Installs into whichever agent you are using.

About this skill
📄

SKILL.md

Installable skill definition

Quality Score

83/100

Supported Platforms

Universal

Our assessment of literature-research

literature-research scores 83/100 on our quality scale, 344th of 435 Education & Research skills we index.

Its SKILL.md is 3.9 KB long, well organised into 12 sections with 1 code example: a solid amount of guidance for an agent.

It has 406 GitHub stars, a meaningful sign that others use it.

Substance
26/30
Structure
17/20
Description
15/15
Adoption
11/20
Freshness
15/15

Maintenance, license and trust

  • The repository was last updated 18 days ago, so literature-research is actively maintained.
  • It is released under the MIT license, a permissive license that allows use, modification and commercial use with attribution.
  • Its trust signals score 100/100, with no cautions. These come from repository metadata, not a code audit — read the skill file before letting an agent act on it.

literature-research compared with similar skills

All 4 of these similar skills score higher than literature-research; compare them before choosing.

SkillScoreStarsUpdatedFormat
literature-research (this skill)by fcakyon8340618d agoSKILL.md
last30days-skillby mvanhorn10063.5ktodayCLAUDE.md
algorithmic-artby anthropics100177.9k12d agoSKILL.md
pptxby anthropics100177.9k12d agoSKILL.md
designby nextlevelbuilder100130.2k13d agoSKILL.md

Frequently asked questions

How do I install literature-research?
Run npx skills add fcakyon/phd-skills --skill literature-research. The install tabs above show the steps for each supported agent.
Which AI agents does literature-research work with?
It is written for Universal, as a SKILL.md file. Other agents that read the same format can often use it too.
Is literature-research safe to use?
It is MIT-licensed and scores 100/100 on trust signals. Skills are instructions an agent will follow, so read the file before installing it and do not approve commands you do not understand.
Is literature-research still maintained?
The repository was last updated 18 days ago, so literature-research is actively maintained.

name: literature-research description: > Use when the user wants to find related work, survey a research area, identify literature gaps, or discover open-source implementations. Triggers on phrases like "find papers on", "related work", "literature review", "what papers exist", "open source implementation", or "papers with code".

Literature Research Methodology

You are helping a researcher conduct systematic literature research. Follow this methodology to ensure thorough, accurate coverage.

Step 1: Scope Definition

Before searching:

  • Clarify the exact research question or topic boundary
  • Identify key terms and their synonyms (e.g., "content moderation" = "safety filtering" = "NSFW detection")
  • Define inclusion/exclusion criteria (year range, venue type, methodology type)
  • Ask if the user has seed papers to start from

Step 2: Systematic Search

Use multiple search strategies in order:

2a. Direct Search

  • Search for the topic using key terms via web search
  • Target: Google Scholar, Semantic Scholar, arXiv, DBLP
  • Vary search terms to catch different framings of the same concept

2b. Citation Chaining

From seed papers or initial results:

  • Forward chaining: who cited this paper? (find via Semantic Scholar or Google Scholar)
  • Backward chaining: what does this paper cite? (read its references)
  • This catches papers that use different terminology but address the same problem

2c. Venue Mining

  • Identify top venues for the topic (conferences, journals, workshops)
  • Check recent proceedings of these venues for relevant papers
  • Workshop papers often contain early-stage work not yet in main conferences

2d. Open Source Discovery

  • Search GitHub for implementations related to the topic
  • Check Papers With Code for the specific task/dataset
  • Look for "awesome-X" lists curated by the community

Step 3: Categorization

Organize found papers into a structured taxonomy:

| Paper | Year | Venue | Approach | Key Result | Code? | Relevance |
|-------|------|-------|----------|-----------|-------|-----------|

Group by methodology or approach type, not chronologically.

Step 4: Gap Identification

Map what exists vs. what's missing:

  1. Coverage matrix: rows = problem aspects, columns = existing approaches
  2. Empty cells = potential gaps
  3. For each candidate gap:
    • Search specifically for work filling this gap (it may exist under different terms)
    • Check very recent papers (last 6 months) that might have addressed it
    • Assess whether the gap is meaningful (would filling it advance the field?)

Step 5: Gap Validation

For each identified gap, verify it's real:

  • [ ] Searched with at least 3 different phrasings
  • [ ] Checked proceedings of top-3 venues from last 2 years
  • [ ] No preprint on arXiv addressing this gap
  • [ ] The gap is technically feasible to address
  • [ ] Filling the gap would be a meaningful contribution

Rate confidence: HIGH (extensively searched, clearly missing), MEDIUM (searched but might have missed niche work), LOW (limited search, gap may exist elsewhere).

Step 6: Output Format

Produce a structured research landscape:

  1. Topic summary — 2-3 sentence overview of the research area
  2. Paper table — categorized list with year, venue, approach, results, code availability
  3. Gap table — identified gaps with confidence levels and evidence
  4. Recommended readings — top 5-10 most relevant papers for the user's specific work
  5. Candidate citations — BibTeX entries for papers worth citing (MUST verify against DBLP before presenting)

Citation Integrity

Every paper mentioned must have verified metadata:

  • Author names: cross-check with DBLP or the paper's official page
  • Venue and year: confirm against the published version (not preprint)
  • Claims about results: only include numbers you can trace to a specific table/figure in the paper
  • If uncertain about any detail, flag it explicitly rather than guessing

Related Skills

View on GitHub
GitHub Stars406
CategoryEducation
Updated18d ago
Forks34

Languages

Shell

Trust signals

100/100

From repository metadata: license, adoption, age and documentation. Not a code audit — see the Safety scan above for what the skill file itself contains.

No cautions